Jackett was resolute in not letting the wantaway striker leave Fratton Park until a replacement had been found and, understandably putting the club first, the Blues boss recognises the impact upon Chaplin’s footballing mindset.

In the end, following Andre Green’s arrival on loan from Aston Villa, Chaplin was finally allowed to move to the Ricoh Arena, signing on loan ahead of a £500,000 permanent switch in January.

New Coventry City striker Conor Chaplin

“I wish Conor all the best,” Jackett told the Portsmouth News.

“I understand his wish for a fresh start at Coventry and he has that now.

“I wanted my front line to look as strong as it possibly could before we released him – and with Green coming in we feel we now have the numbers and hopefully firepower to take us forwards.

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“You do get into a situation sometimes with players that you realize you might not get the best out of them because they are people as well.

“It’s not always easy to necessarily find that compromise, but he wanted that fresh start and, as a club, we needed to get ourselves into a scenario where our attacking positions had enough options to be able to grant him his wish.

Pompey boss Kenny Jackett

“Conor’s attitude was very, very good, his character’s very good, but obviously you get down about things.

“If your mind is set on a fresh start and you are working into the last year of your contract – as you could sometimes see with Kal Naismith last year – there are times you cannot get the best out of a player.

“I do think you get into a situation sometimes where nobody wins – and that it doesn’t necessarily benefit anybody anyway.”

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Jackett admits that Chaplin was, to a degree, a victim of the formation he plays at Pompey.

“Most of my managerial career I have played one up front and, apart from the Luton game, it has been 4-2-3-1 here,” he said.

“Does he play the nine? Does he play the 10?

“And before with Paul (Cook) it was 4-2-3-1. So for the majority of his time, it has been Conor trying to get into a 4-2-3-1.”

Chaplin made 122 appearances and scored 25 times for Pompey after emerging through the Academy.

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